Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion in the terms moved by the Leader of the House. Today the government introduced 18 bills as part of the Clean Energy Future package. Of course, these bills will be debated concurrently and ample time will be made available in the period during which the House is sitting in coming days for members to have their say about those bills. It is entirely appropriate to establish a joint select committee in the terms that have been moved by the Leader of the House and on the basis of the structure that has been proposed by the Leader of the House as a manner to deal with this general policy question, which has, of course, been considered by this parliament on many occasions in the past.

In fact, the first inquiry that considered a response to climate change was conducted in the Australian Parliament in 1994—no fewer than 17 years ago. There have been no fewer than 35 parliamentary committee inquiries looking at the issue of climate change and the policy responses that are appropriate in the better part of the last two decades. It has been exhaustively discussed and debated; there have been successive and numerous committees of inquiry of this parliament having a look at this issue in considerable detail. Indeed, the Clean Energy Future package at the centrepiece of it is a carbon pricing mechanism, which is an emissions trading scheme. The first review of emissions trading by an Australian government was in 1999—no fewer than 12 years ago.

There was extensive policy work undertaken by the former Howard government. Those sitting opposite at present were members of that government. The most notable work was undertaken by Professor Peter Shergold—it was exhaustive—and he concluded that pricing carbon was the best approach. It formed the basis of a policy that the coalition took to the 2007 election, a policy that bears remarkable resemblance to many of the features of the government's Clean Energy Future package. It is not possible for those opposite to say that they are unfamiliar with the policy issues, that they have not participated in quite extensive public policy research work, evidence-gathering and stakeholder consultation over recent years, because the fact of the matter is that for the better part of 10 years the coalition have been actively engaged. So, too, have many other parties within this parliament, including, of course, the Greens and Independent members of this House, who have been very actively engaged, particularly over the last 10 months, in consideration of these issues.

There have been numerous inquiries external to the parliament and related to the policy development process. Professor Ross Garnaut has conducted and completed two major reviews on Australia's best policy options for tackling climate change. The government's Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, which includes representatives of the House and of the Senate, met for nine months to consider the development of the Clean Energy Future package. The coalition were invited to participate in the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, and, of course, they refused. Notwithstanding all of this period—the many years of policy development and policy discussion; the 35 parliamentary inquiries into this area of policy; all of the work of the Shergold review conducted for the Howard government; and the detailed policy, including on emissions trading, that was taken to the 2007 election by the coalition—the coalition have now come to a position where they oppose this policy principle.

Indeed, the talking points that were adverted to in question time today—they were distributed amongst members of the coalition—are quite instructive because they demonstrate the abandonment of market principles in formulating their policy response to this issue.

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